Photo: Steve Sands
Cool eyewear lures customers
By Maureen McDonald / Special to The Detroit News
BIRMINGHAM — Bette Midler, David Bowie and Chris Zuccaro, a former drummer for Kid Rock, are among the notable customers who sought out Optik Birmingham for vintage eyewear in its Hindsight Collection.
“Clients can go to Costco and get glasses along with 30 rolls of toilet paper, or they can come to me for some cool, original piece of jewelry on their faces,” says Joseph Ales, a doctor of optometry and owner of Optik Birmingham in downtown Birmingham.
Since his store’s opening in 2001, the 43-year-old Ales has carved out a hip vintage and boutique niche that falls between the mall-based, value-oriented glasses-in-an-hour chains and super high-end shops like Shades or AuCourant.
Optik’s frames cost $149 to $459. The store’s gross sales were $300,000 in 2003.
Ales creates a buzz by marketing various eyewear collections — including Robert Marc and Freudenhaus — at trunk shows with other vintage artists and networking with hair salon owners.
“The trunk shows went over great,” says Kelly Cerrito, a Farmington artist of vintage belt buckles who combined with Optik for several art events.
“Lucky Magazine (a national shopping publication) called me to do a Lucky Night, where we displayed Joseph’s frames, my belts and Molly Bosco’s jewelry. We all use vintage to make a statement.”
Many of Optik’s frames, spanning from the early 1900s through 1960s mod and 1980s flash, come from European glass factories shuttered in the last five years, according to Ray Ascher, a former Detroiter who ran his family’s Fine Arts Optical in the David Broderick Towers downtown.
Ascher now has more than 4 million frames in his Berkeley, Calif.-based collection and offered Ales an exclusive southeast Michigan contract.
“Joe Ales researched trade magazines and tracked me down because he wanted to market vintage frames, the kind that were made wonderfully. I offered to help him, mentor him,” says Ascher, 60, a semi-retired entrepreneur who sells his glasses at optical trade shows in New York, Paris and Milan. “I’ve let Joe be privy to some of the prototype stuff.”
Upscale glasses offer a viable niche in a hugely competitive market, says Tom Zizka, owner of Tomz Optical in Brighton and former president of the American Association of Opticians.
Zizka says the 1,500 opticians statewide find themselves at an increasing disadvantage with warehouse eyeglass distributors with huge budgets.
“So many of us out there are selling middle of the road eyeglasses, which come from exactly the same manufacturers,” says Zizka, a master optician.
“We offer 25,000 different models and they change every 90 days. The markdown is enough to break some practitioners.”
Singer Bette Midler bought eight pairs of vintage glasses at Optik, while rock star David Bowie bought tinted metal sunglasses with pictures of Elvis on each lens.
Chris Zuccaro, founding member of the band Don Juan Imitation, says he wears Optik glasses whenever he performs.
“I stopped by because Dr. Joe had a vintage Harley Davidson in the window,” Zuccaro said. “He sold me some really cool vintage wear that are a nice asset to my wardrobe. I look like Buddy Holly.”
